Job Market May Be Weakening, Unemployment Claims Up

The unemployment rate saw a gain in the latest report. The unemployment rate saw a gain in the latest report.

WASHINGTON D.C. (CBS4) – While Florida won’t release their first time jobless claims numbers for a couple of more weeks, nationwide the numbers were up for the third week signaling a weakening in the job market.

According to the Labor Department in the week which ended April 30th, applications rose by 43,000 to 474,000; the highest level in eight months. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose for the fourth straight week to 431,250.

Applications near 375,000 are typically consistent with sustainable job growth. Weekly applications peaked during the recession at 659,000.

A department spokesman blamed much of the increase on an unexpected spike in applications from New York, where more school systems than usual closed for spring break last week. That resulted in 25,000 layoffs. The department didn’t anticipate the closures when making seasonal adjustments, the spokesman said.

In Florida, the state’s unemployment rate dropped to 11.1 percent in March, the last month of available numbers. The numbers, however, weren’t as rosy in Miami-Dade which saw its unemployment rate jump nearly half a percentage point to 12.3 percent.

Broward County performed much better and saw it’s unemployment rate drop .4 percent in March. Monroe County also saw a .4 percent drop in March when it’s unemployment rate his 6.6 percent, which is the best rate in the state.

I’ll tell you what these numbers and the markets reaction today have me scratching my head. Usually when these numbers come out the precious metals see a spike but just the opposite looks to be going on. I don’t get it. The DOW is down though it might get positive here before days end. Looking at the charts there’s no way precious metals will.

All this to say I think a lot of us are just baffled by the numbers we are seeing. Trying to get a handle on where the economy is heading or not heading is ever more difficult. Ben Bernanke’s latest conference (historical in the fact that it happened at all) illustrated that with some of the things he had to say.

Miami-Dade is the worst county to find a job. I mean a well paying job, not selling churros on the street corner. Miami is about a 10th world country will stadiums being a top priority this town will always be a dump.